The PGCE Assessors (ID 1353)

• Steve Fox
  Mid Essex ITT Director and PGCE lead
  Steve Fox

  Steve Fox is the Director of Mid Essex Initial Teacher Training. Having previously served as Assistant Director, he brings deep experience, continuity and a strong personal commitment to the organisation and the schools it serves. Steve has spent his career working with trainee teachers, mentors and school leaders, and is passionate about helping new teachers develop into confident, reflective professionals. He takes great pride in seeing trainees grow, knowing that many go on to make a lasting difference in classrooms and communities across Essex and beyond. In his previous role as Assistant Director, Steve worked across the full breadth of ITT leadership. He led on curriculum design, quality assurance, assessment, external moderation and statutory compliance, and oversaw the Assessment Only route into teaching. He also played a key role in securing Outstanding judgements in all areas during Ofsted and in successfully guiding Mid Essex ITT through the re accreditation process.

  Alongside his work at Mid Essex ITT, Steve has taught on PGCE programmes with Anglia Ruskin University and the University of Greenwich. These experiences have strengthened his understanding of teacher education across different routes while keeping his work firmly rooted in the realities of classroom practice.

  Steve is a research engaged leader who values evidence informed practice, clear communication and thoughtful leadership. He is known for leading with integrity, calmness and compassion, balancing high expectations with genuine care for wellbeing. His professional values align closely with those of Mid Essex ITT: being committed, optimistic, research informed and effective. He is deeply committed to equality, diversity, safeguarding and ensuring every trainee receives a high quality, supportive and enriching training experience.

• Holly Sutton
  Mid Essex ITT Assistant Director and PGCE Assessor
  Holly Sutton

  Holly Sutton is the Assistant Director of Mid Essex Initial Teacher Training. Holly has worked at Notley High School and Braintree Sixth Form since 2007 and has held a range of leadership roles throughout her career. She began as a Lead Teacher and served as Head of Year for five years before being appointed Assistant Headteacher and Head of Braintree Sixth Form in 2016.

  Alongside her leadership responsibilities, Holly has been a Specialist Leader of Education (SLE) in English, supporting colleagues and schools in developing outstanding teaching and learning practices. In 2014, she completed a Master's degree in Educational Research at the University of Cambridge, further strengthening her commitment to evidence-informed practice and educational improvement. Since 2020, Holly has worked as a Course Tutor for Mid Essex Initial Teacher Training (MEITT), supporting and mentoring trainee teachers as they begin their careers in education. She is passionate about developing the next generation of educators and helping them build the knowledge, skills, and confidence required for successful teaching careers, commencing as Assistant Director in 2026. Holly is also a PGCE assessor working closely alongside Anglia Ruskin University.  Holly has a particular interest in student wellbeing, safeguarding, and professional development. In 2026, she completed the Advanced Certificate in Safeguarding for Designated Safeguarding Leads, further enhancing her expertise in creating safe and supportive educational environments for young people. Through her extensive experience in teaching, leadership, teacher training, and safeguarding, Holly remains dedicated to ensuring high standards of education and positive outcomes for both students and staff.

• Adam Selby
  PGCE Assessor
  Adam Selby

  Adam is currently Assistant Headteacher, responsible for Teaching, Learning and Staff Development at Chelmsford County High School for Girls. In addition to his responsibilities for Teaching and Learning, he also leads on the school's provisions for Early Career Teachers and Initial Teacher Training.

  He has previously acted as the Lead Subject Tutor for Drama at Mid-Essex ITT, in addition to leading sessions on ‘Creating Presence in the Classroom' and ‘How Pupils Learn' for their CORE Practice Sessions.

  Prior to becoming Assistant Headteacher, Adam was Subject Leader for Drama and Theatre Studies and More-Able Coordinator at Chelmsford County High School for Girls. He can began teaching in Lincoln at a non-selective academy, prior to moving to Kent, where he was a pastoral leader in a large grammar school for a number of years.

  Adam's undergraduate degree is in both Education and Applied Theatre. He also studied for a Post Graduate Certificate in Education, before completing an MSc in Teaching and Learning at the University of Kent. His research areas include: Meta-Cognition, Visual Mapping, The Thinking School's Philosophy and Meta-Memory. Adam has worked as a PGCE Assessor for the University of Greenwich, in collaboration with Mid-Essex ITT, prior to taking up the same role with Anglia Ruskin University.

• Zahra Tyler
  PGCE Assessor
  Zahra Tyler

  Zahra graduated from Sussex University with a Philosophy and Literature BA (hons). She has been teaching RE for over 10 years, and joined Hedingham School and Sixth Form in 2021 as Leader of RVE at Hedingham School and Sixth Form. Before joining Hedingham, she taught at St Mary's Catholic School in Bishops Stortford. Teaching in both the faith and non-faith sector has given her a breath of knowledge of the various ways to RE is taught in school.

  Zahra loves teaching, and sharing her passion for learning with the students in her classroom and was really exhilarated to have the opportunity, when joining Hedingham to completely rewrite and develop the curriculum for KS3.

  Zahra is always interested in pedagogy and the art of teaching, and having had great tutors and mentors in her own early days, training teachers and mentoring has always been a keen interest of hers. She is the ECT mentor at Hedingham and she said: "ITTs and ECTs are the life blood for the future and a it is huge privilege to be part of their training.

• Cathy Priest
  PGCE Assessor
  Cathy Priest

  Cathy studied Natural Science at Cambridge University before training to be a secondary science teacher; she worked as anoutstanding science teacher for 20 years in the UK andabroad, taking on leadership roles within departments; KS4 leader, head of Biology and head of Physics.

  She has mentored many trainee science teachers and is passionate about helpingthem reach their potential and understand how science operates as a subject. During her teaching she completed a Masters in Educational Research looking at teacher job satisfactionand well being and had been a team leader for exammarking for the International Baccalaureate.

  For the last 5 years she has worked for the Cambridge based, Faraday Institute for Science and Religion, as the training lead, in the youth and schools' team where she develops and delivers teacher training on integrating science and religion in the school curriculum. This has given her the opportunity to work with 100's of different trainee teachers and 10's of different PGCE programmes.

• Gareth Bates
  Senior Lecturer in Education, Anglia Ruskin University
  Gareth Bates

  After completing his PhD in Chemistry, Gareth trained as a secondary school science teacher and went on to work in several secondary schools teaching science. Gareth moved into Higher Education in 2017 at the University of Bedfordshire, where he taught across a range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses and had leadership responsibility for the PGCE secondary science programme. More recently, he was the course lead for the PgCert in teaching in Higher Education.

  Gareth has developed his research interests through his experience with working with schools and teachers to develop their practice. More recently, he has gained interest in how school implement practice based on evidence from cognitive science.